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If you rent a car then take a train to Denali and back for two nights be aware that you are paying for those two days that you are not using the car. If you decide to do a Princess cruise tour such as Denali to the ship do your Seward thing first as Princess does not port out of there

We do like hiking, but only as an excursion, not repeated hiking excursions.

I hadn't thought about not having the car at Denali. Would we be able to find enough tours and such (jeep safari, the show at night, hiking) to occupy 3 days/2 nights, or would driving up be a better idea?

I had though staying in anchorage and flying out for bear viewing, flying out for half day salmon fishing, seeing the botanical garden, riding the trolley, going to the market, maybe the reindeer farm, and the museum. Would you suggest dropping a day there and spending more time elsewhere? It could be we might make it through those events pretty quickly. I was trying to make sure we didn't spend too much time driving and not enough time enjoying.

We aren't doing a princess cruise, but a cruise to the Fjords and glaciers (day trip). Princess also runs the train tour up to denali and their lodge and then back.

Since there are two couples........one couple could take the train up to Denali and one couple could drive, then reverse the scenario on the way back.......that way you will have the car to use while you are in Denali......

I also agree that four nights in Anchorage is too long, unless you enjoy large cities........

I'm no expert, since I'm leaving for my first Alaska trip next week. But I researched car vs train to Denali and decided on the car. It's much less expensive if you have a group, and you can stop anywhere you want. I was also surprised that the train trip takes longer than driving. I'll let you know how the car works out for us. :-)

My trip is a bit shorter than yours, so pretty much the only thing I'll see in Anchorage is the car rental office. Feel I need more time in Denali and Kenai.

We stayed in the Princess lodge in Denali and absolutely loved it. The train ride from Achorage up was very nice even if a little pricey. But then you do have the car issue. We also stayed in Princess lodge at Mount McKinley and loved it too. It is more rustic and less hotel like but still very nice. We went salmon fishing from McKinley just an FYI you might check it. I agree Anchorage has some nice things to see but definitely not 4 days worth. We didn't go to Kenai but would love to try that. We went on to Fairbanks. Anyway, hope you love it as much as we did. I so want to go back.